Ministry of Finance Signs 2019 Performance Agreements

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Accra, 8th May 2019… The Chief Director, Directors and Analogous grades of the Divisions and Agencies under the Ministry of Finance have signed the 2019 performance agreement at the Ministry.

The annual performance agreement contract is signed between the Head of Civil Service and each Chief Director and endorsed by their respective sector Ministers, as well as with the Directors and other analogous grades.

This signed performance agreement, which would be evaluated at the year under review, seeks to monitor and evaluate performance of the Chief Directors and other Directors in the civil service.

In his remarks, the Minister of Finance, Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta said it was heartwarming to note that, the external partners tasked with the responsibility of monitoring and accessing progress of the Ministry over the years were serious than ever to execute that mandate.

He used the opportunity to commend the able leadership and great dedication shown by the Chief Director and the entire Management in helping the Ministry commit to achieve its set objectives in 2018.

Performance management, the Minister indicated, was an integral part of an effective human resource management system and when managed effectively, the natural outcome was usually a strong performance underpinned by tangible results.

He therefore advised that the process should not be seen as one that was punitive but rather one that was meant to make one succeed.

According to Ken Ofori-Atta, the Ministry of Finance, was exemplifying leadership and living its values of being Professional, Ethical, Efficient and Responsive.

Last year, the Ministry, with support from the Head of Civil Service embarked on a restructuring exercise that brought about the coordinating director positions and the reduction of the divisions from 13 to eight.

On staff motivation and rewards, he said, “40 awards in nine categories were given to deserving staff last year as a way to rekindle the spirit of hard work, commitment and dedication among staff and it is my hope that other staff are motivated by that gesture this year” Hon. Minister stated.

He commended Directors who performed incredibly well in their various roles played last year and minced no words in stating that non-performing Directors would be sanctioned accordingly.

The Head of Civil Service, Nana Kwasi Agyekum Dwamena in his brief remarks commended the Ministry for their financial support during the promotions of staff of civil service last year and this year.

He revealed that the coordinating director position was piloted in five Ministries but it was only the Ministry of Finance that had actually institutionalized it perfectly.

“For the first time last year, Ministry of Finance was ranked among the excellent group of Ministries and this shows the quality of leadership here,” Nana Dwamena stated.

He gave the assurance that the few acting positions in the Ministry would be reviewed to make them permanent.

The Head of Civil Service warned that under the new scheme of things, the Civil Service Council had decided that any Chief Director who failed to meet the targets and performed abysmally for two continuous years would be demoted to the grade of a director.

“Our collective delivery would support the Ghana beyond Aid agenda of the government,” he stressed.

Nana Dwamena advised that the guiding principle of public office holders should be good attitude, honesty, client sensitive rather than our personal interests and huge volumes of certificates.

Mr. Patrick Nomo, Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance disclosed that the Ministry had witnessed significant improvement from 2017 to now, chief among them being the restructuring of the Ministry and the award scheme.

“We want to challenge ourselves to take the Ministry of Finance delivery to a higher pedestal this year”. He hinted.

“We recognise the role that rewards play in encouraging and motivating our staff whose strength currently stands at 658, 346 of which are technical staff while 312 are non-technical staff.”

Chief Director reserved a special praise for the Minister of Finance for instituting the “follow through” concept where staff are expected to follow official documents and tasks until they were finally executed.

“As I sign my Agreement and that of my Directors and Heads of Agencies, I am demonstrating my own commitment to delivering the results expected of me and I have no doubt that my colleagues will do same,” Mr. Nomo assured.

Also present at the short but colourful ceremony were Hon Charles Adu Boahen, Directors of Divisions of the Ministry, Mr. Emmanuel Kofi Nti, Commissioner General of Ghana Revenue Authority, Mr. Kwasi Kwaning-Bosompem, the newly appointed Controller and Accountant General, Mr. Kweku Dua, Chief Executive Officer, Financial Intelligence Centre and Officials from the Office of Head of Civil Service and Ministry of Finance. END